Album Reviews

No one is more creative than Naxos is in making music more audience-friendly. The label's ongoing series "Art and Music" pairs a well-known artist with music that, in some way or another, reflects the artist's work and/or times. Interestingly, the program moves chronologically through the artist's life, creating a vivid picture. This disc starts with the heavy, atmospheric Prelude from Berlioz' monumental "Les Troyens" and moves on to a few showery piano pieces by Chabrier and enchanting songs by Henri Duparc. Later, with Debussy and Ravel, it follows Cezanne into Impressionism. . . . the disc's great variety of textures, including voice, organ, orchestra and solo piano, make this is a vivid portrait of a colorful, changing era.